Memo To USA: Here’S One Reason They Hate You

Indeed, only 26% of Americans thought other nations had a positive attitude toward the US and from the results obtained in other countries, that appears to be a supportable view. The survey showed that in other countries, including its closest neighbour Canada, the US is broadly disliked around the world. Significantly, eleven of the countries surveyed, which included its Iraq war buddy Britain, rated the communist dictatorship in China higher than the beacon of liberty and freedom.

The poll showed the ‘ugly American’ is considered by outsiders to be “rude, greedy and violent.” ‘Rude’ is, course, a matter of perception; but it is hard to argue with the other two adjectives.

Since 2001, the mindless question ‘why do they hate us?’ has become a mantra for unthinking Americans who can’t, or won’t, consider the world outside their own navels. George Bush is fond of saying that ‘they hate our freedoms.’ Well, Mr. President, even if you are silly enough to believe that, it isn’t your freedoms they hate. It’s your bullying and, most of all, your war machine.

Here’s a recent example of what it is that makes people hate the United States.

Since the proposal in 1997 of the so-called Ottawa Treaty (Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction ), 153 nations have agreed to ban the use of landmines. As of July 11, 2005, eight of those nations have not yet ratified the agreement through their legislatures but they are adhering to it anyway. The signatories to the treaty agreed they would not use, develop, manufacture, stockpile or trade in anti-personnel landmines and would destroy any existing stocks within four years of signing the treaty.

Of the nations who have not signed the agreement, the largest are India, China, Russia, and the United States. In the case of the Americans, they refused to sign because the treaty contained no ‘Korean exception’: they wanted to retain the unconstrained right to mine the ‘demilitarized zone (DMZ)’ between North and South Korea. They claim the more than one million mines they have seeded along the DMZ help maintain the fragile peace by deterring a North Korean attack. What deters this mythical attack is not landmines: it is F-16s, and Patriot missiles, and a much more sophisticated panoply of weaponry than North Korea could ever hope to muster, even if they really do have nuclear capability.

In fact, since there is mechanical equipment that can be used to clear minefields, and even tanks can be adapted to clear them, their effectiveness as deterrents to enemy troop movements is highly questionable. But what landmines do provide is one of the most deadly legacies of the 20th century. These anti-personnel bombs continue to have tragic, usually unintended consequences, many years after the battle is over and even after the entire war has ended. As time passes, the location of landmines is often forgotten, even by those who planted them, and they continue to be functional for many decades, causing further damage, injury and death, usually to unsuspecting civilians.

Given the abilities and tightly-honed killing skills of modern war makers, it is very difficult to see landmines as anything other than a cruel attempt to leave a lasting memory of conflict for years to come. There are sure to be military-types and fans of large scale killing who will argue that landmines have superb value as ‘area denial munitions’, but the brutality of the residue from these weapons is appalling and inexcusable. There are millions of limbless or orphaned children around the world thanks to these leftovers from old conflicts.

Even more inexcusable is that, after a lapse of some eight years, the United States is getting back into the business of manufacturing landmines. According to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Pentagon has asked for $1.3 billion to develop and produce a new landmine, called the Intelligent Munitions System. Although a decision on the request is thought to be unlikely before 2008, it is understood that a new remote-controlled landmine system, called Matrix, began deployment in Iraq in May 2005.

Apparently, this all comes about because of a policy of the Bush administration to abandon any consideration of signing on to the Ottawa Treaty, even if amended. According to Steve Goose, director of HRW’s arms division: ''We are beginning to see the bitter fruit of the new Bush administration landmine policy. The US appears well on the way to resuming production of antipersonnel mines. Renewed export and renewed use of these inhumane weapons may not be far behind. Any future production, trade, or use of antipersonnel mines would put the United States squarely at odds with the emerging international consensus against the weapon, and would draw strong criticism from its closest allies.''

Right.

Mr. President, this is but one simple example of why people hate the United States. It is your callous disregard for the lives of others, your willingness to let your young men and women play soldier around the world, and your unremitting brutality. We all recognize that there are those who would like to bring harm to the US, who relish the idea of killing Americans. But in the pecking order of brutality, the United States has scaled the peaks that other brutal people can only wistfully lust after.

The citizens of the United States must take responsibility for this. A nation which prides itself on being constructed ‘of, by and for the people’ is entitled to all the praise for the enormous good that it does around the world; but it also bears full responsibility for the evil it perpetrates.

The American people have no right to abdicate responsibility for the brutality that they market world-wide: if their government truly is ‘of, by and for’ them, then they are directly responsible. And if it is no longer ‘of, by and for’ them, it is about time they got their heads of the clouds and overthrew the clowns who have usurped their nation.

Until such time as the American people show themselves to be trustworthy and safe to be near, they will have to expect that the rest of the world will view them negatively, at best, or try to kill them, at worst. There are many in the United States who are agitating for a revolt against the power bloc that runs the US: it’s about time they did more than just agitate.

[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 8, 2005]